With the arrival of 2020, the winds of change carry in new hopes and dreams for the future. Our hearts are fluttering with both anticipation and trepidation. Like the Fool in the Major Arcana of the Tarot, we’re about to step off the precipice and through an unknown portal. We’re welcoming not only a new year but bidding a wistful farewell to a decade-long cycle of growth and learning. If you’re anything like me, you have so much that you’re ready to release, and a treasure trove of bright and shiny wishes stored within your heart that you want to bring into being. Setting your 2020 New Year’s intentions is the first step in planting your garden of possibility, of taking the precious, tiny seeds from within, planting them in the fresh and fertile soil of your passion and determination, and tending to them with care and conviction until they fully blossom.

So how do you take the desires of your heart out into the world and make them a reality? It’s easy to set a New Year’s resolution amidst the emotional charge and freshness of January 1, but how do you carry that energy forward after it fades? How do you feed and support it so that it can grow strong, healthy, and truly take root? In this blog, I’ll share how you can lovingly and pragmatically birth your intentions for 2020.

A good place to start is by understanding the power behind intentions. An intention is not just a thing you set on one special night, or a box you check off in the first few days of the new year. Rather, intention is a living and breathing process that fuels growth, creation, and manifestation. Intention is that tiny breath of hope, a beginning, a seed. As with any seed, it requires attention, nourishment, occasional troubleshooting, and FAITH. If you believe your intention can grow and fully flourish, and if you give it the sustenance and care it needs, it will happen! Here’s how:

1) Create a solid, specific intention.

Particulars are important. For example, there’s an energetic difference between, “I want to find love” and “I am in a healthy, balanced relationship with an affectionate person who respects me and shares my interest in art, theater, and live music.” Get into the juicy details of it! What do you really want? How does it feel, look, smell, sound? Let yourself envision it with depth and passion! Imagine that it’s already happening. How does it feel to embody that space? That’s what you want to keep coming back to as you tend and nurture your intention over the coming weeks and months. 

2) Check in with your intention regularly.

As the stress and responsibility of daily life start to take over, it might get tough to keep up the momentum. This is normal and natural. Don’t guilt-trip yourself over it. There may be days where you get caught up in other concerns and forget about your intention altogether. It’s okay. Have a reminder set up for yourself if you’re worried about this, like an alarm on your phone, or maybe a window of time a few days a week where you give yourself permission to just sit quietly and check in. How are you feeling? Is your intention making progress? How do you feel about that? What attention and nourishment are needed to tune back into the energy stream of your most enthusiastic intentional vibration? You got yourself there once, and you can do it again. This is where your commitment and faith play an integral role. Trust that your seeds are growing. You don’t need proof of what’s happening under the soil. The power of your belief is feeding their development. The journey is as crucial as the destination.

3) Aim for progress, not perfection.

The germination of your intention will probably not be smooth or effortless, and as with any kind of growth, it requires action. Intentions that stay solely in the realm of imagination tend to remain there indefinitely. They’re beautiful dreams but may never take on a life of their own. Spend time figuring out what actual steps you can make to support and materialize your intention. If your intention is to become a skilled dancer and perform at a local venue, you’ll need to take dance classes, practice consistently, and speak with the locations you’re interested in working with eventually. Making connections and forming support systems, developing new skill sets, and stepping outside your comfort zone is the bread and butter of birthing an intention into the world as a tangible reality. If you’re scared, you’re on the right track! Trying something new and risky can be very frightening, but that doesn’t make it bad. It’s just an unknown variable that you can get very cozy with eventually. Trust me, if you gamble on yourself, you’ll win every time. You’re worth the time, effort, and faith it takes to bring an intention to fruition. 

And so it is. Happy New Year!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Are you ready to manifest your deepest desires? Are you ready to transform into your best self, completely healed and happy? Join my Sage Goddess Soul Shift program designed to accelerate spiritual transformation, activate personal potential, and improve energetic flow. 

Do you love harnessing the energy of the moon in all her phases? Join my Full Moon Ritualists community on Facebook where we share educational tidbits on working with moon energy, learn about astrology, and engage in lively, wild conversations with other like-minded people.

Are you curious about the medicine of gemstones and crystals? Join my Gem Haven community on Facebook where we share tips and tools on harnessing the magic of gemstones and crystals, educate you on the properties of the most popular stones available on the planet today, and engage in lively, wild conversations with other like-minded people.

Are you a perfume lover like I am? Do you know the healing magic of the oils that are used to make all of our perfumes? Join my Perfumery community on Facebook where you can learn about the properties of certain essences, how to work with certain blends to manifest your intentions, and engage in lively, wild conversations with like-minded people.

I absolutely love and encourage all magical feedback from my readers! However, I do not regularly moderate comments on the Sage Goddess blogs. So if you have a specific question or query that you’d like us to answer, please contact us via our Facebook page.